3/4/10

Mortgage prices got off to a softer start Wednesday as the Non-Manufacturing ISM number showed an unexpected increase. The 8:15AM EST ADP employment number suddenly had analysts lowering their forecasts for tomorrows Non-Farm Payroll number, and the estimates now seem to be -60,000 jobs with an unemployment rate of 9.8%. The Fed’s Beige Book (which is a report of the various Fed districts) showed some improvement but with soft labor markets and a weak commercial real estate sector.
Today we have Jobless Claims, some productivity numbers, and Factory Orders, along with the Treasury announcing the amounts of next week’s 3, 10, and 30-year auctions. And tomorrow we could see some volatility with the unemployment data. Greece is still in the spotlight as investors are still wary, but most agree that a bailout is likely with Greece issuing a 10-yr note and a meeting scheduled for tomorrow between the Greek Prime Minister and the German Chancellor. Currently mortgage prices are roughly unchanged.